


unspoken

by mistyheartrbs



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Redemption, Regret, these kids need to talk things out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 04:23:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16716532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyheartrbs/pseuds/mistyheartrbs
Summary: Adora and Catra, on the roof.





	unspoken

**Author's Note:**

> i finished all of she-ra in like a week, loved it, thought about how awesome it is that the next generation is gonna get to enjoy these kinds of shows, and wrote this in two sittings. hopefully it isn't terrible.

It was an unspoken thing that Catra would sleep in Adora's room, partially because the castle didn't have any more spare rooms and partially because leaving Hordak's former second-in-command on her own wasn't an idea anyone was particularly comfortable with.

It was also an unspoken thing that the feathery death trap that could hardly be defined as a "bed" would remain unused, and so Catra found herself sleeping at the foot of Adora's bed just as they had in the Horde, just as before. 

It wasn't like before, though, and that, too, remained an unspoken thing. 

***

Brightmoon was eerily silent at night, Catra had quickly noticed - there was no hum of machinery, no clanking of tanks returning from raids, nothing but the occasional guard walking down the too-big hallways to switch out for the night shift. It made her more uneasy than she'd have cared to admit, even with Adora sleeping peacefully right next to her. She couldn't just _forget,_ not as easily as Adora had, with this pink room and this soft bed and the uneasiness pressing down on her skull. Adora flipped over, muttering something unintelligible, and Catra caught a glimpse of the scars peeking out from behind her shirt, close to her shoulders. A little higher and she'd have reached her neck. 

Catra got up, careful, and slunk out of the room with all the precision of a soldier on their first mission. 

***

Adora woke with a start - some nightmare, she figured, something about the Horde, about Shadow Weaver coming back and taking everything she loved, but the details were already fuzzy. 

"Catra?" she mumbled, sleep marring her voice, and as she adjusted to the darkness and the coldness at the foot of her bed a creeping fear began to swallow her whole. It was practically an instinctive thing to pick up the sword, to whisper the words before leaving.

***

Adora found her on the roof, tail flicking back and forth, mismatched eyes staring, fixated, in the dark. 

"Hey, Adora," Catra drawled. "You really had to bring your sword-lady alter ego into this?" She stood up, folding her arms, drumming an expectant claw. "Thought I'd really pick _here_ to reveal my evil plans of betrayal?" 

"It wasn't-" _I thought you'd been kidnapped,_ she didn't say. Adora took a breath and dropped She-Ra. 

"Nah, it's fine." Catra plopped back down, patting the space next to her. Adora took the hint and joined. They could see all of Brightmoon from here, not that it was very large, and the woods were still in ruin. "Prettier view than the Fright Zone, huh?" Adora nodded.

"Someone told me that there used to be stars, here, a lot of them." 

"That must've been nice." 

"I wouldn't know." The two of them sat in silence for a moment, and it hurt, the air bile-thick. Ten guards stood, perfectly alert, below. They'd increased security, which made enough sense considering the loss of the woods' defenses, not to mention the exiled commander sitting on the roof. Catra slipped a little on the smooth surface. 

"What're these buildings made out of, anyway?" she muttered. "Stupid . . . smooth architecture. Can't get a grip on anything." 

"That's probably the point." The silence returned for a little while. Adora hated it, and she might not have known Catra as well as she once thought, but she wagered it wasn't much of a stretch to assume she hated it too. "You know I trust you, right?" 

"That's just it!" Catra stood again, ears pressed flat against her head, tears prickling at her eyes. "You shouldn't! I-I did _so many_ crappy things, I nearly killed your friends, nearly killed _you_ \- look at the woods! Look at _yourself,_ Adora, the Rebellion shouldn't even be letting me in and yet here you are for _some reason,_ letting me sleep in your bed like nothing's happened and I don't . . . I don't get it." 

"We look out for each other." It wasn't much of an answer, and it was quiet enough that Adora'd half-hoped Catra wouldn't hear, but it rang through nonetheless. Catra turned away, flicking an ear.

"You're a dweeb."

"It's true." Adora tentatively reached out a hand to cup Catra's cheek. She didn't make a move to swat it away, didn't make a quip or laugh it off. All she did was stare. "That, uh, that we look out for each other. Not that I'm a dweeb." 

"You are, though." Catra leaned in closer, smirking just a little, just enough so that one of her fangs poked out. The Horde mask was long gone, probably abandoned somewhere on the forest floor, and the sensation of pointed, cold steel was gone with it. Cautiously, Adora pressed her forehead to Catra's, and they stayed like that for a few seconds, just like that. They were so close it felt like there was nothing else in the world, like they didn't need the rest of it - that all of Brightmoon and Etheria and all the stars could disappear and they'd be fine, just them. 

Then the sword clattered to the floor and Adora remembered everything else and she felt small again. 

"What're we doing?" Catra asked her, pulling away. It was nearly shocking, the loss of contact. Nighttime in Brightmoon was cold, too, sweet as the air was. 

"I don't know." Adora leaned in again, still careful, still ready for any signal to stop. Nothing came. 

"Can't hurt to find out, then."

It would be an unspoken thing, long in the future, that neither one of them really knew who initiated the kiss, but both thought it was the other, and in any case it was wonderful enough that neither girl cared much for the details. It felt like floating, like falling, like everything else, and it was nothing short of extraordinary. 

***

They walked back to the room hand-in-hand, both grinning like children, both still high off the kiss, and they both slept a little easier that night.

**Author's Note:**

> catradora has stolen my heart


End file.
